New England briefs

Sunday

Nov 30, 2008 at 12:32 AM

NEWPORT, R.I. — A judge has dismissed all charges against a retired Newport police officer who got into a scuffle with a current officer behind the station and was restrained with an electronic stun gun.

In return, Tom Zeigler has agreed not to file any civil lawsuits against the city.

The fight happened in 2005 after Zeigler and officer Joseph Carroll exchanged words while Zeigler was walking to a friend’s car behind the station.

Another officer arrived and shot Zeigler with an electronic stun gun after Zeigler raised his arms and exposed a handgun he was legally carrying.

Zeigler suffered a chipped tooth, and Carroll twisted his knee.

HARTFORD — Two men killed in a rollover accident in Hartford have been identified as Vermont residents.

The men, 22-year-old Sanjin Alagic and 21-year-old Emir Mahmutovic, died in the crash early Friday. Both men are from Barre, Vt., and police say Sanjin was the driver.

Their car was reportedly speeding on Retreat Avenue when it struck a median and overturned, sliding along the street and hitting several light poles.

Two passengers were critically injured. Police identified them as 23-year-old Admir Klino of West Haven and 22-year-old Arnes Vrabac of East Haven.

WEARE, N.H. — A Merrimack, N.H., man is recovering after being shot accidentally in the back by his brother after a morning of hunting.

Police say 20-year-old Justin Dean was in the front passenger seat of a pickup truck Friday morning when he was shot by his 18-year-old brother, Josiah, who was in the back seat unloading a revolver. The pair and another brother were driving through Weare after hunting in New Boston earlier in the day.

WATERVILLE, Maine — A wayward seal that made its way nearly 50 miles upriver from the ocean is in recovery after being rescued from a parking lot in Waterville.

A biologist with the Department of Marine Resources was called after the small seal was discovered in the parking lot of the Hathaway Building along the shore of the Kennebec River around 5 p.m. Friday. The animal’s mouth was bleeding and it appeared to be thinner than it should have been for 5 or 6 months old.

The seal apparently made its way up the Kennebec River to Waterville, which is about 50 miles from where the river flows into the ocean.

Biologist Lynn Doughty said it’s unusual but not unheard of to see seals travel inland from the coast.

The seal was taken to the University of New England marine animal rehabilitation center in Biddeford, where it will be treated before being released into the ocean.

GORHAM, Maine — The Hannaford supermarket chain has replaced $900 worth of gift cards after somebody pilfered them from Gorham’s First Parish Church during a Sunday service.

The Rev. David Butler says it appears somebody stole the cards — which were intended to provide Thanksgiving dinners to 22 needy families in the community — last Sunday and cashed them in the next morning.

After learning about the theft, the Maine-based Hannaford chain agreed to replace the cards.

Police are investigating.

From Associated Press reports

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